PhilHealth Employer Registration 2026: ER1, PEN, and Deadlines

Quick Answer: All government and private employers must register with PhilHealth, primarily through the Philippine Business Registry (PBR). In-office registration requires an Employer Data Record (ER1) in duplicate plus a PMRF per employee, resulting in a PhilHealth Employer Number (PEN) and Certificate of Registration. New hires must be reported through ER2 within 30 days. Two official PhilHealth pages disagree on the exact remittance deadline — we're flagging that conflict rather than picking a side.

About this guide: Sourced from PhilHealth's employer registration and reporting pages, RA 11223 (Universal Health Care Act) text hosted on philhealth.gov.ph, and Advisory PA2026-0001 on the 2026 interest waiver. Last checked: August 2026.

Table of Contents

• Who must register as an employer
• How to register: the PBR route
• Registering in person: ER1 and PMRF
• Reporting new hires: ER2, within 30 days
• Reporting separated employees: RF-1
• EPRS is mandatory for remittance
• The conflicting remittance deadlines
• Penalties under RA 11223
• The 2026 interest waiver (temporary)
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Conclusion

Who Must Register as an Employer

PhilHealth's own employer page states it plainly: "All government and private sector employers are required to register with PhilHealth." [philhealth.gov.ph/partners/employers/registration.php] There's one carve-out worth knowing: private employers already registered with SSS before 1 July 1999 are automatically considered registered, but they still need to update their records rather than assume nothing further is required.

This applies regardless of business size or structure — a single household employing a kasambahay counts as an employer under PhilHealth's framework, alongside corporations, sole proprietorships, and government agencies. If you're an employee trying to confirm whether your employer should be registered, note this obligation applies to essentially every formal employer, not just larger companies.

How to Register: The PBR Route

The primary registration channel is the Philippine Business Registry (PBR). PhilHealth's page describes the advantage directly: "Employers may register through the Philippine Business Registry (PBR). Once registered in this system, they will no longer be required to submit documents."

If you're not registering through PBR, the requirement depends on your business type: a sole proprietor registers through DTI, a partnership or corporation through SEC, a foundation or non-profit also through SEC, a cooperative through CDA, and a backyard or micro-business through a Barangay Certification and/or Mayor's Permit. Which document you need depends entirely on how your business is legally structured — check which category applies to you before assuming PBR alone covers it.

Registering in Person: ER1 and PMRF

If you're registering directly with PhilHealth rather than through PBR, you'll submit an Employer Data Record (ER1) in duplicate, along with a PMRF per employee, also in duplicate, to any PhilHealth Office. Kasambahay employers use a separate document instead — the Household Employer Unified Registration Form.

The ER1 form itself is downloadable at https://www.philhealth.gov.ph/downloads/employer/er1.pdf. We couldn't confirm the form's current revision date from the PDF, so check the header of your downloaded copy directly rather than relying on a date we'd otherwise guess at. Successful registration results in a PhilHealth Employer Number (PEN) and a Certificate of Registration, which must be displayed conspicuously at your place of business — except for household employers, who are exempt from that display requirement.

Reporting New Hires: ER2, Within 30 Days

Once registered, employers have an ongoing reporting obligation whenever staffing changes. For new hires, PhilHealth's instructions are direct: "Submit ER2 Form indicating the names of newly hired employees within 30 days from assumption to the office." [philhealth.gov.ph/partners/employers/report.php]

If a new employee already has a PIN from a previous job or prior registration, they don't need to register again — they simply report their existing PIN to you for inclusion in the ER2 submission. This is the employer-side counterpart to what we cover from the employee's perspective in our PhilHealth online registration guide, which explains why employed members generally don't register for themselves online.

Reporting Separated Employees: RF-1

Employee departures carry their own 30-day reporting window too. Separated employees are reported through the RF-1 form, submitted "within 30 days of separation," per the same PhilHealth reporting page.

We couldn't confirm whether RF-1 submission has since been automated inside EPRS (covered below) or whether it still requires a separate manual step — PhilHealth's documentation doesn't specify this clearly either way, so check directly with your PhilHealth office or your EPRS account interface for the current process rather than assuming either format applies.

EPRS Is Mandatory for Remittance

Employers don't have a choice of remittance method: PhilHealth states that "all employers are required to use the Electronic Premium Remittance System (EPRS) application as the mode for the payment of the premiums, and preparation and submission of remittance report."

Employer login for EPRS is at https://epoaf.philhealth.gov.ph/employer/, with the newer EPRS 2.x system at https://eprs01.philhealth.gov.ph. If you're setting up remittance for the first time, confirm with PhilHealth which of these two systems currently applies to your employer account, since both URLs are live and documented.

The Conflicting Remittance Deadlines

Here's a genuine conflict in PhilHealth's own published pages that we're not going to paper over. The pay_procedures.php page states that employers with a PEN ending in 0–4 pay between the 11th and 15th of the following month, while those ending in 5–9 pay between the 16th and 20th. Meanwhile, the duties_responsibilities.pdf document states a flat deadline instead: "on or before the 10th day of the month following the applicable month," with the RF-1 report due by the 15th.

Neither document carries a visible revision date, so we can't tell you which one supersedes the other. Our honest recommendation: don't rely on either deadline exclusively — confirm your specific remittance due date directly with PhilHealth, either through your EPRS account notices or the 24/7 hotline covered in our contact guide, before assuming a specific date applies to your PEN.

Penalties Under RA 11223

The stakes for getting registration and remittance wrong are spelled out directly in the Universal Health Care Act text, as hosted on PhilHealth's own site. Interest on unpaid or unremitted contributions compounds monthly at at least 3% for employers (versus a cap of 1.5% for self-earning individuals, professionals, and migrant workers).

Section 38 goes further: an employer who "deliberately or through inexcusable negligence" fails to register employees, deduct contributions accurately, or remit on time faces a fine of ₱50,000 for every violation, per affected employee, or imprisonment of six months to one year, or both. Failing to remit within 30 days of the due date creates a "prima facie presumption of misappropriation" under the law. Separately, deducting the employer's own contribution share from an employee's pay carries its own penalty: ₱5,000 multiplied by the number of affected employees, or six months to one year imprisonment, or both. [philhealth.gov.ph/about_us/RA11223_UHC.pdf]

The 2026 Interest Waiver (Temporary)

PhilHealth Advisory PA2026-0001, issued January 2026, offers employers a one-time, time-bound break from some of this — but it's explicitly temporary, not a change to the standing penalty structure above. It waives interest on missed contributions covering July 2013 through December 2024, with the waived rate depending on how quickly you commit to settling: 2%, 1%, or 0% depending on whether you're on a 7–12 month, 2–6 month, or 1-month settlement plan.

Applications for this waiver are accepted only until 31 December 2026. If you have unremitted contributions from that historical window, this is worth acting on before the deadline rather than assuming a similar waiver will be offered again — nothing in the advisory suggests it's a recurring program.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does every business have to register with PhilHealth?

Yes. PhilHealth states all government and private sector employers must register, including household employers of a kasambahay. Private employers registered with SSS before July 1999 are automatically registered but must still update their records.

How do I get a PhilHealth Employer Number (PEN)?

Register through the Philippine Business Registry, or submit an ER1 form in duplicate plus a PMRF per employee to any PhilHealth office. Successful registration issues a PEN and a Certificate of Registration.

How long do I have to report a new employee to PhilHealth?

30 days from the employee's date of assumption, using the ER2 form. If the new hire already has a PIN, you report their existing PIN rather than registering them for a new one.

What happens if an employer fails to remit PhilHealth contributions?

Under RA 11223, interest compounds monthly at a minimum of 3% for employers, and deliberate or negligent failure to register, deduct, or remit can carry a ₱50,000 fine per affected employee, imprisonment of six months to a year, or both.

When exactly are PhilHealth employer contributions due?

PhilHealth's own pages disagree. One page ties the deadline to your PEN's last digit (11th–20th of the following month); another states a flat 10th-of-the-month deadline. Confirm your specific due date directly with PhilHealth rather than assuming either applies.

Is EPRS required, or can I remit manually?

EPRS is mandatory. PhilHealth states all employers must use the Electronic Premium Remittance System for both payment and remittance report submission — there's no manual alternative documented.

What is the PA2026-0001 interest waiver?

A temporary, one-time waiver of interest on missed employer contributions from July 2013 to December 2024, with reduced rates depending on your settlement plan length. Applications are accepted only until 31 December 2026.

Conclusion

PhilHealth employer registration runs through the PBR by default, or ER1 plus per-employee PMRFs if registering directly, ending in a PEN and Certificate of Registration. From there, ER2 covers new hires and RF-1 covers separations, both within 30 days, remittance runs exclusively through EPRS, and RA 11223 backs all of it with real financial and criminal penalties. Where PhilHealth's own deadline pages conflict, confirm directly rather than guessing. For the employee side of registration, see our PhilHealth online registration guide.

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